The Apples in Stereo

Sunny psych-pop indie stalwarts the Apples in Stereo started off as one of the leading lights in the famed Elephant 6 recording collective, which in its mid-'90s heyday also boasted the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Olivia Tremor Control and later gave rise to Of Montreal. Having gone to high school with Jeff Mangum and William Cullen Hart, the Apples' prolific, endearingly nerdy leader, Robert Schneider, has long shared a love for the jangling rock of the Beatles and the Zombies with his old cohorts, splicing it with dancy electronic bleeps and bloops, which makes for a fun, often whimsical listening experience. On the band's last album, 2007's catchy New Magnetic Wonder, Schneider concocted an elaborate tuning system that he referred to as the "Non-Pythagorean Music Scale," but on the Apples' new release, he keeps things simple: The funky beats on Travellers in Space and Time are straight-up four on the floor. With Generationals and Laminated Cat.
Sat., May 1, 8 p.m., 2010